Barolo's Townships

There was an article in the Fine Wine review in 2006 I believe which sought to define the distinctions between the wines of the five most important villages in the Barolo region. Tasters of repute drunk samples of four wines from each village. In rereading the article recently I was struck by how far Barolo has come in the fifteen years since that exercise was conducted.  Verduno and Novello were then described as “minor villages”.  Now we have official vineyard designations, detailed maps of the geology lying beneath the vineyards and a huge rise in awareness of Barolo’s nuances in the consumer, who has become much more travelled and knowledgable about the region as a whole.  A great deal more Barolo has since been drunk both in America and by enthusiasts newly visiting the cellars in the region, among whom I include myself. Prices have risen, markedly so for the big name producers. And there is much more readily available written material on the subject. The fifteen or so years that have passed since that article was written have been very good for Barolo.

In looking at the various townships of the region I do not intend to summarize here what is readily available elsewhere in more authoritative and detailed form.  All enthusiasts should sign up to Alessandro Masnaghetti’s Barolo 360 website. What I do want to focus on, however, is some misunderstandings that I had early on in the hope that readers may avoid similar misconceptions. Central to these is the assumption of too great a definitional consistency of the wines within each township and my more or less complete misunderstanding of Monforte d’Alba.

Monforte d’Alba

Monforte d’Alba has a reputation for producing powerful tannic wines. This seems to be informed by the admittedly substantial tannic structure of the wines from the southern part of the township - especially the vineyards of Mosconi and Ginestra. These wines have such a strong tannic presence that the wines are often held during their aging in mid size or smaller 500L “tonneau” to soften those tannins, even by those who normally would age wine in large botte. But to the north Monforte stretches to adjoint both Barolo and Castiglione Falletto. The wines from here have a somewhat different profile, sharing as much with their neighbors as with the terroir to the south. This section includes the enormous and divergent terrain covered by the slopes that comprise the huge Bussia MGA. Bussia’s tannins indeed do also have a substantial presence but they are better mannered than those from Ginestra or Mosconi.  And the wines of Bussia can have an absolutely effusive and beautiful aroma which sits incongruously on a wine with so much depth of fruit on the palate. Bussia will never be a subtle wine but it is a wine of compelling aromatics and unashamedly lovely fruit. which expresses itself quite early in the wines evolution.

Nor is Monforte geologically consistent in its soils. Although predominantly on Helvetian marls, towards the southern end of the commune there are a set of vineyards - including Ravera di Monforte and Le Coste - with a higher proportion of sand, which give wines of greater delicacy.  And Monforte has slopes of very different expositions. The large western part of the commune - represented by the utterly enormous Bricco San Pietro MGA - remains not well known to consumers. So it is a mistake to think of wines from Monforte as consistently all muscle and power. 

Serralunga d’Alba

The Helvetian mix of grey marls and sandstones intermixed limestone and clays    - the Liquio Formation - creates wines which are putatively the most easily distinguished from wines from the other communes. Because they unquestionably benefit from a little more age it is easy to assume here too that the wines are initially big and brawny. That is not true. The presence of hard sandstone and the relative absence of clay in these soil formations creates wines that lack the fruity generosity that clay soils provide. Without the clays to ameliorate Nebbiolo’s naturally high structural elements, the wines initially taste more austere with a finely muscled structure. The bulk of Serralunga faces west so the vineyards are consistently warm - so the fruit character may be a little darker. The wines seem more vertical than horizontal in the mouth. But what really distinguishes the wines of Serralunga is the quality of their tannins, informed as they are by sandstone and limestone rather than clay rich marls. The tannins are finer and longer - less round.

Nor is it true that Serralunga along its entire length is consistent in its soil types. In the north of the township, parts of Cerretta and Fontanafredda lie on the St Agata marl - richer in clay - associated with the more approachable wines of La Morra and Barolo itself. Just to the south of these is a stretch vineyards exposed to the west, where the wines can be a bit rustic - evidently true of the Gabutti vineyard and perhaps also of Lazzarito. By contrast the much narrower east facing slopes produce “wines of the morning sun”. Only towards the southern half of the commune is one among vineyards of classic Lequoi formation soils with westerly exposition. It is here that one is amongst the vineyards in Serralunga that are most faithfully representative of the common perception of the wines from the village.  But even here there are many vineyards that are truly unique - in particular the magnificent soils that underlie Vigna Rionda.  Margheria is unusual in that it has a higher proportion of sand. So perhaps Ornato, Falleto or Vigna Francia in practice come closest to the consumers’ image of the wines of the commune. 

La Morra

Despite covering an enormous footprint of acreage, relatively speaking the soils of the township are consistently St Agata marls (or Tortonian soils) - a combination of clays and limestone in varying proportions. The beautiful south and east facing slopes that seem to cascade down from the town attract considerable warmth, and this, combined with the presence of these clays, create wines with sufficient ripe fruit to cover some of the natural austerity of the nebbiolo grape.  These clays give softer tannins and a supple texture to the wine in the mouth - a more horizontal wine. Plus that red fruit is beautiful - succulent and charming. The result is that that wines of La Morra are thought to be approachable earlier than wines from other communes.  Of note also is that this township has a high number of growers who, with the express intention of pushing further this natural tendency for approachability, purposefully use shorter fermentations and new oak in furtherance of this end. 

The township is large - especially to the north of its most famous vineyards - Brunate and Rocche Annunziata - and over the the other side of the town where the high altitude slopes incline gently to the west - the Serradenari and Berri vineyards. There are more pockets of sand on these western slopes. Some vineyards - like Capalot - one feels must have excellent potential but are as yet underrepresented in the cellars. The reputation for approachability, though justified, should not be overdone.  Brunate is a vineyard that can produce wines of real power and authority - the neighboring slopes of Cerequio similarly.  And while Rocche Annunziata produces wines that of all the vineyards in Barolo most “equate” to the aromatics and finesse of the wines from Burgundy’s Chambolle Musigny, nowhere should the wines of La Morra be considered naturally soft. 

It is my speculative view that although the soils of La Morra do allow for earlier drinking of these wines, there is, practically speaking, no corresponding limitation on their longevity. 

Barolo 

Barolo to my mind is essentially split by altitude. The village itself and the more famous vineyards that immediately surround it are situated quite low in the valley. But over the ridge of the Paiagallo and Terlo vineyards the land extends considerably further west and rises to altitudes as high as 500 meters by the time one gets to Bricco delle Viole at the township’s westernmost point. These more westerly sites give wines of considerable elegance.  But they are not well known, their promotion being left in large part to a single through admirable estate - Vajra. The easterly / central portion surrounding the town has vineyards of very varying expositions - the pure south facing (and hot) Sarmassa,  the southeast facing slopes of Cannubi and more easterly slopes that rise above the town on its west.  The other characteristic of the Barolo township is that with just a few exceptions the designated vineyards tend to be small.  And the town’s flagship vineyard, Cannubi - the central portion of which is in my view surely a great vineyard - has too much sand to be representative of the wines of the commune as a whole. The lower part of Brunate falls in the township but I tend to think of Brunate as belong to La Morra.

If these wines have a single identity it would be that they have excellent balance.  There are some high profile growers in the village that deservedly attract a lot of attention, as one might expect in the village that gives its name to the whole region.   

Castiglione Falletto

It is said that the wines from this commune benefit from it being the place where the two primary soil types of the region come together and that the resulting wines have the best of both worlds. The point here is the surely self evident fact that although this is broadly true, it is absolutely not true for every vineyard. As one might expect from such confluence of soils, the reality is that the commune has a diverse array of sites that are individually more faithful to one soil type than both. And there are also varied expositions. For example Villero is a warmer site with a good proportion of clays, giving wines that can be robust or authoritative depending on your view. Rocche Castiglione is sandier and has a completely different exposition, giving lithe wines of real finesse. And there is Monprivato whose soils have particular marls giving wines that can be somewhere between these two.  I find it very difficult to generalize about the vineyards of Castliglione, beyond that the quality is high. There are several famous vineyards of unquestionable quality delivering wines of very different styles.  But probably one can say that the wines have in common a certain structural assertiveness and while they may lean towards bigger fruit or greater elegance depending on the specifics of the vineyard from which the grapes are sourced, the wine always seems composed, in balance and with expressive aromatics.  Unlike the Barolo Township, Castiglione has several sizable and well known vineyards each with somewhat different but well defined personalities. Perhaps if one had to pick a single vineyard that was most representative of all that is the Barolo region, one could do worse than pick Villero, which seems to have present all the facets one would wish to display in appropriate proportion.

Of the communes, Castligione Falletto is perhaps the most rewarding to take the time to get to know - precisely because there is particularly meaningful variety to its vineyards and many fine growers are represented with parcels in the village.

Verduno 

To the worldwide consumer, Verduno’s reputation is recent and is, in my opinion founded very largely on one vineyard - Monvigliero - and one grower  - GB Burlotto. And perhaps one can say on one part time wine critic who in times past has been very instrumental in bringing attention to these wines - Greg dal Piaz. Burlotto’s Monvigliero is a wine is made in a very traditional style which overlays herbal notes of sage and olive onto of elegant but generous fruit and a lacy structure.  And it sells for high prices. But the Verduno Express has now truly left the station. Now we have Podere Oddero and Paolo Scavino and no doubt other famous cantina buying land in Monvigliero. But one can see in the wines of Monvigliero the character of the village more broadly in wines of elegance and fine floral fruit framed in a  more accommodating structure. So they have the benefit of being approachable fairly young if that is your preference. There are only a few growers resident in the village and no other vineyards have yet really established an individual identity in the market, though I have high hopes for San Lorenzo di Verduno. This is a village whose wines have recently come to the public attention and one can expect the reputation of the village to rise as its wines become better known.  

Novello 

This is another township whose wines have been only recently been elevated in esteem by the efforts of one winery - Elvio Cogno.  I associate the Novello region entirely with the Ravera vineyard, the character of the primary portion of which is that it attracts cooling winds because it is a straight shot from here to the Alps. The views of the Alps are uninterrupted. Others are now investing in the region - Vietti and Scavino for example - which is testament to the anticipated quality of the ravers vineyard. Vietti’s wine in particular has received the highest possible scores from critics, which has also helped promote the reputation of the vineyard.

Its a huge vineyard - much expanded from its original historical section.  There are growers making wines in different styles - some with a strong signature - which makes evaluation of the underlying qualities of the vineyard more difficult. The defining feature is probably the cooling wind, which results in wines of good acidity.  But the wines  also have a presence of quite big fruit and deeper colors than most. La Morra with more acid perhaps. But I defer to those who have spent more time focussed on this commune.